www.1001TopWords.com |
Station Teams: Assembly Required
Too often teams aren't assembled. They just happen. A project comes along and a team is assigned to work it. The group gathers and attempts to figure out a solution, but trouble starts brewing almost at once. Only some of the people do any work. Some people don't get along. Meetings are frequent and mind numbing. No one is quite sure what the assignment actually is. I call well-assembled teams Station Teams. Station teams are based on what we know to be true about people and organizations, and are aligned with the principles of WYSINWYG (what you see is never what you get), balance and simplicity. The constituent parts of station team assembly are size, civics, and work. Each of the parts is important in its own right, but taken together, they provide for continuous and effective team operation. Their assembly optimizes the chances for success. When it comes to teams, size does matter. By definition it takes at least two people to make a team - there is no upper limit. But studies have consistently shown that performance is directly related to team size. With over forty years of research supporting the contention, we know that team size optimizes at five members. Beyond this point, productivity plateaus between six and nine members. With more than nine members there is a distinct productivity loss. The implication is obvious - keep teams small. A team is primarily a social unit, and as such requires liberal applications of civility in order to thrive. This entails demonstrating respect for others, exercising courtesy and acting politely. It means behaving with integrity and putting the needs of the many above your own. When exercised, civility grows strong teams that are highly resilient. It produces long lasting loyalties, builds confidence and super charges productivity. Nothing, however, undermines a team faster than a lack of civility among its members. Such a lack has a devastating and corrosive effect. It must never be permitted to take root. People usually know what is socially required. To be sure, most employers have policies regarding employee conduct, but few of these deals with subjects such as being "nice" to one another. Yet, being "nice" is one of those low cost, high payback behaviors. We're right sized, have great attitudes and everyone is behaving well. Now what? What exactly do teams do? Teams gather data and make decisions about planning, developing and operating projects or tasks. The type of data and sophistication of the decision will largely determine how the team is assembled. Simply put, different types of work will require different types of teams. That's a very brief look at team assembly. Remember that the care with which team makers and leaders assemble the team will directly impact the team's success. George Ebert is the President of Trinity River Seminars and Consulting, a firm specializing in the custom design and delivery of team building, personal growth and ethical development programs. Mr. Ebert is a highly sought after speaker, educator and consultant with over thirty years experience in both the public and private sectors. He has presented widely throughout the Unites States. He is the author of the management cult classic, Climbing From the Fifth Station: A guide to building teams that work!
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Build a Great Team - Ten Easy Ways to Start! It's all about focusing on where the best value in using time lies. Who is the leader of the team and what is your best use of time. Getting to know your own value and appreciating where you add it best is a big, and very productive step. Whats the Secret Ingredient That Turns Groups into Teams? What's the Secret Ingredient That Turns Groups into Teams?Working together building and maintaining long-term team relationships is the key behavior and skill of the most effective people in any organization. Staying Informed Key For Your Team We exist in such a rapidly-changing environment. Technology is moving along so quickly it seems things change with the blink of an eye. So how do you anticipate changes that directly affect your team? Being informed is the key that can unlock the door. But, how do you stay informed and minimize information overload? Putting the I in Team This sports cliche is a memorable phrase that reminds people that team success is more important than individual glory. In that sense it is wonderful and is as true for business teams as it is for sports teams. The phrase, however, overlooks the role of the individual in making the team stronger. Feedback - Confirming the Good News The feedback I'm talking about here isn't some sort offormalised appraisal that takes place with your team membersevery month, or every six months or once a year. Thisfeedback happens continually and it happens when you see orhear something you want to give feedback on. The trick is -keep it simple. How Leaders Unlock Potential in Teams Leaders are faced with unlocking the potential in the people that they lead and motivating the individual is a key part of this process. Motivation is not something that is done to an individual as they already posses it. What a leader does, to benefit the whole team, is to release, or unlock, it. Here are seven ways leaders unlock potential in people. High Performing Teams: 10 Things You Want To Know About Building A High Performing Team "Conflict becomes politics, commitment becomes 'Only if it's in my best interest', accountability becomes 'Only when it serves me,' and results just fall by the wayside."- Patrick Lencioni, author of "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team", speaking about dysfunctional teams Working as a Winning Team It's a great sunny day so it's time to get out and enjoy the weather. Many of us would like to, but we have projects due, tasks that need to be done, people that we need to see, and money that needs to be made. What if your company gave you that time off as compensation for the great effort that you gave to the team to finish a project on time? Creating a Winning Staff Team As a business owner, I've had staff come and go over the years: some have done extremely well, and others not so well. During the time I was involved in running my business, I found some weaknesses in myself that tremendously affected things that were going on, especially from a negative point of view. It was not uncommon for me, whenever something was not going well, to ignore it. Sometimes I would hope it would go away, or maybe ask somebody else to solve it for me, whatever was going on. Downsizing Your Team Team Building Question: Business Innovation ? Effective Team Structures Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Virtual Team Work At a time when many companies are scaling down their marketing budgets, big design firms are finding it harder to win new clients and projects. Things maybe tough for the larger design firms, but the situation could be ideal for freelancers and other smaller boutique operations that can operate virtually. Whats Your REAL problem?? When was the last time you spent excessive time and money solving a problem only to discover the problem you thought you had wasn't really the problem at all? Secrets of Successful Teams To be a success is not always to be a success individually. In fact, most of the time we achieve our successes as part of a team. That is why I want to devote this issue to the secrets of successful team. Book Summary: The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player A follow-up companion reader to The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, here is a clear character profile of the ideal Team Player. Maxwell stresses some main qualities of a good team player: intentional, or she is focused on the big picture, relational, focused on others, selfless, willing to take a backseat for the good of the team, and tenacious - works hard to overcome obstacles, no matter what. Manage Expectations to Reduce Everyday Frustrations Just today my partner Russ and I sat down to hash out a nagging frustration. It took a little bantering back and forth [not without some rise in emotional tension I'll have you know] until we got at the heart of the issue. Unmet expectations! Stop and look back at the last time you were frustrated with your life or business partner. Odds are it was because he/she did not meet your expectations.Expectations of?Leaving the toilet seat up or downMaking the bedMeeting you at the restaurant on timeAnd so on.These expectations can be small or large, simple or complex, pertinent or absurd; the point is that somewhere in your head you expected something different to happen than what did happen. So, most every time you find your level of frustration on the rise it is because your partner acted contrary to one of your myriad expectations. Now that you've become more or re-aware of this what can you do about it?besides hoot and holler?The first step is to identify what the expectation is Winning Teams on the Football Field and in the Office Teams, teams, teams. They're all the rage these days. Whether you love-em or loathe-em, you'll have to learn to live, not only with them, but within them. You career will depend on it. Here are five strategies for building a high-performance team. Aligning Teams with Organizational Goals Teams don't have to be aligned with the goals of the organization. Teams can work on what they believe to be the right things. They can work diligently on creating the results they think matter. They can be completely committed to success from their perspective. Team Building Seminars: Why New Teams Struggle With over 25 years of research and experience, we have observed countless groups struggle with activities in our Team Building Seminars. These groups all had the same common denominators, whether they were strangers or intact work teams, that became apparent during the first activity in which they were asked to work effectively together. How to Boost Morale In Your Organisation Who keeps the wheels turning in your organisation? Who holds it all together when chaos reigns supreme? Who can you rely on to run your department/business in your absence? |
© Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |